The Town Halls (Comuni) in Italy are the sole competent bodies to maintain and update the registers of citizens residing within their respective area of jurisdiction (APR – Anagrafe della Popolazione Residente – Register of the Resident Population) and of those residing abroad (AIRE – Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero – Register of Italians Living Abroad). In addition to personal data, the AIRE contains information on citizens’ registration on the electoral roll.
Each Town Hall (Comune) manages and updates its own AIRE on the basis of data and information provided by the Consular offices abroad. Information from the APR and AIRE registers is merged in a centralised, digital and protected national register, called the ANPR.
Citizens can access the ANPR using their digital identity (SPID, Electronic Identity Card, Carta Nazionale dei Servizi) to benefit from a series of online registry services without going in person to the offices of their competent Town Hall (Comune). Moreover, they can download, free of charge, several types of digital certificates in Italian and English.
The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) provides further information on the AIRE.